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Yes, it happens. Deal flow is a common performance metric in funds so if you catch someone at the right time they will read it. You can't raise a whole round th

by ghc 7y ago

Yes, it happens. Deal flow is a common performance metric in funds so if you catch someone at the right time they will read it. You can't raise a whole round that way, but you can definitely get a meeting and leverage that for intros into other funds. Once you have a foothold it doesn't really matter. Most VCs do deals referred by other VCs, even if the first VC doesn't make an investment. Important note: this only works if you are credible. Credible doesn't mean FAANG, it means you can be googled and you look like you might be a credible founder.

marvindanig 7y ago
> Credible doesn't mean FAANG, it means you can be googled and you look like you might be a credible founder. So glad to hear this! I have rejected offers from FAANG before and generally avoid their recruitment consultants to save myself from their golden handcuffs. I am sure not all investors will overlook not having credentials of FAANG but some of them will. And those are the ones that matter to me.
- rdlecler1 7y ago
  Look at the YC application. One of the questions essentially asks to give an example of your exceptionalism. There are lots of ways to get there but if a founder has no notable previous accomplishments it's difficult to make the leap as an investor that suddenly they will have success. Most VCs don't want to take founder risk because it tends to be negativelty, not positively correlated with large outcomes. Cold email someone and in one to two sentences mention factual impressive academic or professional accomplishments of you and your team. Also it's fine to email associates. They do a lot of the screening work since partners are trying to spend more time with an existing portfolio, networking, and startups further fown the funnel. If you can't impress an associate it's unlikely that you'll have impressed the partner.

by ghc 7y ago

marvindanig 7y ago

> Credible doesn't mean FAANG, it means you can be googled and you look like you might be a credible founder. So glad to hear this! I have rejected offers from FAANG before and generally avoid their recruitment consultants to save myself from their golden handcuffs. I am sure not all investors will overlook not having credentials of FAANG but some of them will. And those are the ones that matter to me.

rdlecler1 7y ago
Look at the YC application. One of the questions essentially asks to give an example of your exceptionalism. There are lots of ways to get there but if a founder has no notable previous accomplishments it's difficult to make the leap as an investor that suddenly they will have success. Most VCs don't want to take founder risk because it tends to be negativelty, not positively correlated with large outcomes. Cold email someone and in one to two sentences mention factual impressive academic or professional accomplishments of you and your team. Also it's fine to email associates. They do a lot of the screening work since partners are trying to spend more time with an existing portfolio, networking, and startups further fown the funnel. If you can't impress an associate it's unlikely that you'll have impressed the partner.